


Devils Don't Fly

by Anonymous



Category: The Uniques (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:33:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25897495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: It was supposed to be a nice relaxing time at a luxurious resort, but these bystanders find themselves caught in the crossfire of a large scale battle and must try to survive the battle and each other.
Kudos: 2
Collections: The Uniques Contest 2020





	Devils Don't Fly

**Author's Note:**

> The Uniques universe and all related characters are (c) to Adam Withers and Comfort Love
> 
> All over characters are (c) to me, Ryker8

** Devils Don’t Fly **

****

**_The Uniques_ ** **comic by Adam Withers and Comfort Love**

**Fanfic by Chris Personette/Holland (Ryker85)**

**Intro Song: Shinedown-“Simple Man”**

**Naples, Florida 1999**

**** _It wasn’t supposed to be like this. The day started off so good. Being trapped under a huge pile of rubble was not in the job description. Still, I had people to protect and a world to save. Something had to give. But it wasn’t gonna be me._

“Mister, are you gonna ok? I’m Tommy. Who are you?” The child couldn’t have been more than seven or eight. He was wearing a Teen Force t-shirt, clearly fawning over superheroes. He stared up at the large red skinned man, wide-eyed and smiling. The man, who was holding a wall on his back, strained a smile. He took a deep breath and adjusted the weight as best he could. The wall itself was carrying broken pieces of what used to be a building. He stopped it from crushing the others. But for how long was a really good question.

“Me? Oh don’t worry about me. I’m holding up this rubble just like Atlas holding up the sky. Strong as a titan, you know? Names Marcus by the way, Marcus Johansson.” As a disaster relief officer he threw himself into danger all the time. But this was different. It had only been a few minutes since the building crumbled but it was already starting to get heavy. The boy smiled.

“Tommy huh? You remind me of my boy. He’s bout your age, maybe a little older.” He was struggling to speak and not let on that he was struggling to speak. The rubble on his back shifted a bit as he tried to get better footing. “Tell you what. We get outta here and we’ll have a playdate. You and Max. What do you think?” The boy lit up and started running around in his excitement. A large crack of what sounded like thunder crashed.

“Toma! Come here. Marcus needs to concentrate.” The boy ran and sat by his mother with a heavy sigh. “He’s ok ma’am. I can lift about a ton anyway.” Marcus said between breaths. She hugged Toma close and looked at Marcus with concern. “It’s just that he’s all I’ve got in this country right now. His father’s away on business. Helping people like you.” Her smile seemed reassuring to more than just herself. The kid smiled as he grabbed his mother’s hand. The poor lady was covered in small scrapes and her red dress was a bit tattered. Both were trying to remain strong for the other.

_I admit, that got to me a little bit. I wanted to hug them both and tell them everything will be ok. But, in that moment, I wasn’t sure I believed that. Besides they needed something to hold on to. Something to help them through all this; a promise that they’d see another day with their loved ones. Hope…I guess._

A pained scream drew everyone’s attention to a man slumped over on his side. “What happened to my leg?! Where am I?” The man tried to move but the pain must’ve been excruciating. He flopped backwards against the rubble, laying on his back. “Don’t move man, your leg was crushed during the attack. We all got caught up under a building that collapsed. And now I’m trying to keep all of us from ending up like your leg.” Marcus exclaimed in a hurried yell. The weight of the rubble seeming to increase with every passing minute. Another crack of thunder rang outside. This one was much louder and caused reverberations through the ground.

The mother motioned for Toma to stay put as she made her way carefully to the hurt man. “I’ll be back soon sweetie. I need to check on this man, ok?” She slowly approached and positioned herself beside the hurt man. “How bad is it, ma’am?” Marcus questioned. She looked at what was left of his leg. Clumps of meat and flesh clinging to flattened, broken bones. It hurt to look at, let alone feel. She glanced at the man, then Marcus, then to Toma. “It’s bad. We need to get him out of here.” She watched as he writhed with pain. She took his hand which he gripped tightly and thankfully. It was at this point that she noticed a body over in the corner. Face down, cuffed and not moving. The man looked as well.

“Dennis. I’m a cop. Off-duty, today was my day off. Those cuffs must be mine, but I don’t seem to have any recent memories. You mentioned an attack?” He got a stern yet confused look on his face as he tried to remember what happened. “I’m Mayuka. That’s Toma, my son. And Marcus. And yes, the resort was attacked by the supervillain Overkill and his army of Deathdealers. That must be one of them, he’s wearing the armor. They attacked suddenly but Virtue showed up to stop them.” The explanation from Mayuka did little to clarify their current situation. Thunder cracked again, a little more distant than the last one, but still intensely loud.

_The battle raging outside was intense to begin with. But it seemed to be getting more intense the longer it went on. Maybe Virtue didn’t realize how tough his opponent was? Maybe Overkill didn’t think he’d be swinging up? You know, the irresistible force facing the immovable object. Unfortunately when you walk under giants, people get stepped on._

A shrill beeping caused everyone to look at the cuffed body. It slowly rose up. The black armor broken up by shining silver accents. Red glowing eyes peered out from the helmet as it studied its current predicament. Finally it managed to reach a watch-like device and stopped the beeping. “Oh great. I’m not in position!” the voice was mechanical, like a talking robot. Suddenly gunfire could be heard, people screaming, small explosions. Phase two of the attack had apparently begun.

“You bastard! Call off the attack!” Dennis screamed as he tried to crawl over to him. He was held back by Mayuka, who laid him on his back again. “Haha, why? You Americans love to fight so much. Haiti. Kuwait. Bosnia. Albania. Iraq. Sudan. Serbia. You attempt to exert such control over the rest of the world and God help anyone who would challenge you.” He was staring a hole in the ground in front of him.

“So what is this attack about huh? Why attack a resort?” Marcus demanded while refraining from taking a knee. “We needed to send a message. Overkill needed to send a message. He is not an enemy you want to have.” Dennis sneered, “All terrorists think that. What about you?” The Deathdealer scoffed to himself. “Me? I’m nobody. I’m Deathdealer 1104. Infantry class. Our orders were to seize this resort in order to support Overkill in his battle against Virtue. Getting caught and buried was not part of the plan. But they’ll find me soon enough. They always do.”

Toma perked up. “So when they find you they can help us too right?” The Deathdealer looked at the child. He paused for only a moment. “No kid, they’d be here to help me. Not any of you. Especially the cop.” He looked back at the ground as he continued, “No they’d hopefully just take you, your mom and the brick hostage. They’d shoot the cop.” “Hey! Don’t say that to my son.” Mayuka barked. The Deathdealer laughed. “Oh come on lady, the real world waits for no one. We all die. Some sooner than others. And some die due to their choice in profession. It’s all just a crap shoot. Best way to win is to rig the game.”

The warzone outside coupled with the Deathdealer’s words left spirits low. Marcus adjusted the weight again. It was clearly getting to him at this point. “How you holding up big guy? You know, ‘physical fatigue is the transient inability of muscles to maintain optimal physical performance…and is made more severe by intense physical activity.’” The sarcasm did nothing to hide the truth of his statement. The rubble had been slowly inching its way down over time. Eventually something was gonna break. “It’ll be ok. He’s a unique. And uniques are superheroes. He’ll save us.” Toma exclaimed as he moved himself under Marcus’ feet. The others looked nervously at one another. No one wanted to challenge the child’s statement.

_It probably wasn’t safe for the kid to sit there. But then again nowhere was safe under God knows how much rubble. Seeing the others in pain was troubling, but I had a job to do. And I’d be damned if anything was gonna keep me from getting out of that hellhole. Besides, it’s not like it could get any worse. Hm? Yeah, I know. Famous last words I guess._

A massive thunder crash rang out followed shortly by an immense tremor. Everyone braced themselves as the ground shifted in an almost malevolent way. As the rocks and debris settled. Marcus looked around. “Are we all ok?” He asked as he saw Toma gripping one of his legs. “Good boy Tommy. Mayuka? Dennis?!” He yelled for the others as he took a knee, forcing Toma to stand beside him. “Yeah! Yeah, we’re ok.” Dennis screamed as he and Mayuka came back into view. She immediately ran to Toma for a hug. “Hey! We got a problem here!” The Deathdealer scrambled to his feet and made his way over near the others. Their hearts sank when they saw the water dripping from his armor.

The clear blue water mixed with the dirt and debris to form a thick brown soup as it poured from above. “It must be one of the pools. Everybody get moving! There’s high ground behind me.” Marcus ordered, eyes locked on the rising tide. Toma was in his mother’s arms as she tried her best to help Dennis. The Deathdealer paused for a moment before heading to the high ground. “Hey! We are all in this together. I know you’re scared. But we need each other ok?” Marcus screamed while forcing himself to stand back up. The Deathdealer groaned. Then hurried back and grabbed Dennis from the grateful mother. He threw the cop over his shoulder and ran for safety.

The Deathdealer dropped Dennis onto the high ground and pulled the others up. “This isn’t gonna do much good. We’re not that much higher then you.” The Deathdealer remarked as he removed his chest plate, arm and leg guards. This revealed a black, skin tight endo-suit. “Well you’re higher than me, and that’s all I care about right now.” Marcus’ gaze still remained locked on the slowly rising water. Mayuka began signing in Japanese to sooth her son’s tears.

“You need to elevate that leg above your heart.” The Deathdealer remarked as he glanced at Dennis’ leg. Dennis scoffed, “Like I’d take medical advice from someone that calls themselves a Deathdealer.” The red eyes glared at the fallen cop for only a moment before he walked over with his chest plate and placed his battered leg on top of it. “I received general first aid as part of my training. It interested me, so I delved further. You don’t wanna bleed out. The fact that you haven’t yet is a miracle in itself.” The Deathdealer slumped against the wall next to the cop. He chuckled and said, “Call me DD if that’s more comfortable for you.”

The siege outside was still raging but was starting to die down. What wasn’t dying down was the battle between Virtue and Overkill. The two were still going at it causing more thunder cracks to ring out. The ground continued to shake under the two monstrous powers. Suddenly Marcus buckled a bit and screamed as he tried to remain on his feet. The others stood stunned as the water reached up to Marcus’ chest, where it seemed to settle. Mayuka finished singing to her son and handed him to Dennis for a moment. She then dropped into the water and made her way to Marcus.

“Listen I know heroes when I see them. It’s part of my job. I know our lives are more important to you then yours at the moment. But I want you to go home to your son too.” She wiped some sweat from his brow and smiled so tenderly. Marcus looked her in the eye, smirked a bit and replied, “Oh sure, weaponize my fatherhood. Clever. If I can help it I’ll see another day. But if not…I’ll see that you and your son do. That’s MY job.” The two just stared silently, their desire to save the other one almost becoming overwhelming. Another loud crack of thunder rang out followed by tremendous ground quakes. These quakes apparently caused more rubble to pile up, because Marcus screamed and was pushed under the water for only a second. He pushed his way back up gasping for air.

Mayuka had gone back to the high ground with the others. “You good? None of us make it if you don’t.” The Deathdealer, DD, asked while surveying the surroundings. Dennis sneered, “Tch, don’t pretend to care what happens to any of us. We don’t even know if we can trust you. Take off the helmet why don’t you?” “In front of a cop and a wannabe superhero? The helmet is the only reason you’re all not dead. You understand that right?” DD barked back. Having given up finding an exit for now, he plopped down. The silence was broken when Mayuka squeaked out, “Are you gonna kill us?” DD looked to see her holding Toma tightly. He glanced between them for a bit and ultimately returned his red glowing eyes to the ground. “I’ll try to get you out. But I don’t know if I can save the cop. My boss has a rule about cops:” he looked at Dennis and continued, “you or them.”

“No one is dying today. All we gotta do is…” Marcus was cut off by the familiar sounds of thunderous battle. Much closer than ever before and causing super intense quakes. The strain and pain of holding up the rubble for this long was clear to everyone. They hoped Marcus would hold, but were grateful that he even held for this long. The same shrill beeping as before caught DD off guard as he gazed at the notification. “They fired the missile.” The small space they were in echoed with the rumblings caused by the missile firing at its unfortunate target. All of a sudden the deafening echo was silenced by what sounded like a jet flying right over head. The enormous Jetstream was so close and powerful that it literally ripped the pile of rubble up as it went. Finally the survivors had fresh air and sunlight. But a little over a ton of material was pulled off Marcus’ heavily fatigued body all at once. The scream he let out bellowed from deep down inside. Then he passed out.

“No!” Dennis cried out while crawling for the water filled crater. He was held back by Mayuka. “You can’t. Not in your condition.” She then looked at DD and continued, “I can’t swim.” DD looked at the others, then at the crater. “Fuck!” DD cursed while removing his helmet. He did this quickly and jumped into the water. All the survivors saw was a head of black hair.

Spotting Marcus was easy enough, as was getting to him. But when DD tried to pull him to safety he realized that his ‘brick’ insult was more accurate then he thought. Marcus’ body was much heavier then it looked, probably to aid with his abilities. He was too heavy to bring back up to the surface. Both men were running out of air and options. DD grabbed Marcus tightly. They both disappeared in a brilliant blue flash of light. In an instant they appeared on the surface, and splashed down into the water they brought with them. DD began gasping for air as he stood up, looking for his helmet. He spotted it in the hands of Mayuka. Who, clearly distraught, pulled out a picture of her and Toma. She dropped the helmet as she gazed into the eyes of her husband. “Bra…Brandon?” Mayuka stammered out while her world view began to crumble. “Daddy!” Toma was scooped up by his mother on his approach to his father. Tears began rolling down her face as she thought about every ‘out of town case’ or ‘emergency hearing’ she now knew were lies. “I can explain.” Brandon admitted, his own heart breaking as his two worlds came crashing down around him.

_“I can explain.” Why are those always the words people use when they get caught do something wrong? I mean wrong to others. I knew why I was there. Working in secret as a Deathdealer. Working for Overkill. I had my reasons. Good reasons. But maybe I had just convinced myself that they were good reasons? “I can explain.” Those were the last words I said to her._

“So, could you? Explain that to her?” Her voice was flat, subtly angry, like she couldn’t care less about any possible answer. “Look Brandon, I’m here as a favor to a friend. She wants to know the truth about some things and you’re going to tell me.” She glanced through a folder full of papers. She sighed, “Height, weight, blood type. Any government lackey can find out that information. My friend and I are after something specific.” Brandon, lost in thought, and staring at the ground softly asked, “What would you like to know?” She closed the folder and replied, “Overkill doesn’t employ Uniques. Bit of a god-complex with that one. Likes to be worshipped. How did you hide your powers from him?”

Brandon took a deep breath. “I know my rights. I’m not telling the govern…” Brandon was cut off by his captor who exclaimed, “Ok stop! I need you to put down your defenses. We can make you, but I’d rather you give us the information we need.” She fumbled through the folder again, pulling out a small item and tossing it at him. It was a picture of Toma. “If you tell us what we want to know then maybe you get to see him again. Maybe.” Her concern seemed genuine, but he couldn’t be sure. “I don’t know what I can tell you that you don’t already know ma’am.”

The slightly chubby woman didn’t strike him as an official government agent. Her casual attire, sneakers and green backwards cap made that more than apparent. She put the photo back in the folder and looked at the far right wall. After a moment she nodded and turned back to the man chained to the table. “Carter. Don’t call me ma’am. Now how did you hide your powers from Overkill?” Brandon scoffed, “It’s pretty easy to hide your powers if you never use them. Besides I was afraid I’d end up like…” “The Uniques that were captured and used by Overkill to test his powers on?” Brandon was taken aback a bit. “Yeah.” Brandon replied and continued, “I never used my powers in front of him or any other Deathdealer, so he never knew I had them. He’s not a psionic like the propaganda says. He doesn’t just KNOW when someone has a power.” This seemed to surprise Carter. She turned back to the far right wall and started talking to herself again.

She eventually turned back to Brandon with a heavy sigh. “Alright. What do you know about Overkill’s powers? If they aren’t psionic then what?” “You people really thought he was a psion? I thought there was only like one left. No, his powers are physical. Anything his body needs to do in order to complete a task gets dialed up to 11. If he needs to shoot, it increases his sight and accuracy. If he needs to run it improves his respiration and running speed. Why do you think he can stand toe-to-toe with Virtue?” Brandon leaned back in his chair as much as he could. “He’s just like any other Unique though. Abilities are tempered through experience. And he has tempered his body through many battles. All in the hopes of squaring off against Virtue. He really doesn’t like that guy.” Brandon looked at Carter who was studying his face for a tell. She slammed her fist on the table. “Damn! He’s not lying T.” She once again looked at the far right wall.

Carter turned to Brandon with a stern look. Slightly intimidated, he swallowed nervously and sat up straight. He was ready to defend himself if he had to. Carter chuckled. “Go ahead teleport. You’ll get out. Most of you anyway, some of you may end up anywhere from Japan to the Congo. Perks of government–funded scrambling technology. It’s hidden in the walls.” Brandon immediately relaxed and replied, “Alright, alright. I told you about Overkill. I don’t know who he is, no one does. What do you want from me?” Silence filled the room as Carter stared at her captive. “Well, since you asked. You’re going to find out who he is. And help bring him down. Those are the conditions of your release.” She slid a key toward him. “Release?” To say he was confused was an understatement.

“Yup, that’s a word. But as I said, those are the conditions of your release. The terms of your release were a little less negotiable.” Carter sighed and continued, “Yeah it turns out we have to babysit you for a while. Make sure you don’t do anything else as stupid as joining an international terrorist and his band of merry men.” Brandon stopped himself from responding and began to sulk. “I’d like to know why though. You had a family. Big house. Fair bit of money. Why did you join him?” Her voice carried curiosity but also a hint of concern. Though whether that concern was genuine or just for dress was unclear. Brandon solemnly admitted, “I’m scared of myself. Or what I can do. Uniques have such terrifying abilities. Killaton’s attack on New York changed things for me. What happens if I lose control? I ground my son by sending him across the country? An argument with my wife literally sends her to the moon? No. The best thing was to forget about being a Unique and focus on building a better world. Joining the Deathdealers offered that opportunity.”

“You’re an idiot.” Carter stood up and continued, “You chose what would make YOU happy, not what would keep your family the safest. The safest thing would’ve been to learn to control your powers. Do some actual good.” She walked over to him and placed a small device in front of him. She gestured for him to use it. Once activated the device showed a list of superhero teams and the states they operated in. “Pick the one that suits you. If they have a spot available that’s where you’ll go once you’re no longer deemed an immediate threat. There you’ll learn about your powers from your new team members, while helping us take down Overkill. Those are the terms. That or a jail cell, your choice.”

Scrolling through his ‘choices’ Brandon came to decision quicker then Carter thought he would. “There.” He put the device back on the table. “Back to Florida huh? Interesting choice.” Carter scooped up the device to put it away. Brandon looked up at her. “I wanna clean up the mess I made. Besides I can do that without hiding behind a mask.” “Uh, helmet.” Carter jokingly clarified. Both cracked a smile. Carter walked to the only door and pressed a button on the pad next to it. “Just take it one day at a time.” She turned to face the door and continued, “Ok fellas. Come get him. And be gentle, he’s on our side.” Three armed and armored men entered and escorted Brandon out. The door closed behind them.

“Well? What do you think T?” Carter asked as she sat down again. A moment of silence passed. “Oh you liked the bit about the ‘government-funded scrambling walls’? I just needed him to think he couldn’t get away.” She laughed a little. “Yeah trapping a teleporter would be tricky. But I think I can come up with something, just in case.” She grabbed the folder and stood up slowly. Carter gazed at the table for a moment. “I think he’s a good guy too. The feeling of belonging is what he was after.” She turned toward the door and continued, “He’ll be ok on the team you chose for him.” She headed out of the door chuckling. “Yeah, yeah I know. That team is full of people atoning for their past. He’ll fit right in. You did good T. And now, maybe he will too.” The door closed as the lights went out.

**Outro Song: Lewis Capaldi-“Someone You Loved”**


End file.
